Bethune-Cookman to host Coastal Carolina in a first-round playoff game

Sunday

Nov 18, 2012 at 8:50 AM

The Chanticleers will meet the Wildcats at 2 p.m. Saturday at Municipal Stadium.

BRENT WORONOFFSTAFF WRITER

Bethune-Cookman and Coastal Carolina have been to the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs a combined five times, but both teams have yet to win a playoff game. That will change this week when the Wildcats and Chanticleers meet in a first-round game. B-CU (9-2) will host Coastal Carolina (7-4) at 2 p.m. Saturday at Municipal Stadium. The winner will travel to No. 4 overall seed Old Dominion for a second-round game Dec. 1. Twenty teams are in the playoffs, with eight playing in the first round this weekend. The FCS championship game is scheduled for Jan. 5 in Frisco, Texas. “We're happy and excited to be lining up against a team like Coastal Carolina,'' B-CU coach Brian Jenkins said. “We need to be consistent, operate our scheme and continue to play sound defense like we have all season.'' Both the Wildcats and Chanticleers earned their conference's automatic bid to advance to the playoffs. B-CU won the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference championship outright with a 8-0 conference mark, while Coastal Carolina finished in a three-way tie for first in the Big South Conference with Stony Brook and Liberty at 5-1. The Chanticleers earned the bid with the best conference road record among the three at 3-0. Stony Brook received an at-large bid. B-CU is 0-3 in the playoffs, losing to Georgia Southern on the road in 2002 and to Florida Atlantic in 2003 and New Hampshire in 2010, both at home. Coastal Carolina lost to top-seeded Appalachian State in 2006 and to Western Illinois in 2010. The Wildcats and Chanticleers have been playing their best football of the season down the stretch. Coastal Carolina started the season at 2-4 before reeling off five consecutive wins, including a 41-20 victory over Charleston Southern in the season finale Saturday. The Wildcats held off Florida A&M 21-16 on Saturday in the Florida Classic in Orlando to close the regular season with seven straight victories. With Saturday's win, B-CU moved up from No. 24 to No. 22 in The Sports Network Top 25 poll. B-CU also finished strong last season, winning its final six games to end the year at 8-3 but finished tied for second in the conference and was passed over for an at-large bid. “We're ready,'' B-CU running back Isidore Jackson said. “We feel like we got cheated last year. We should have been in the playoffs. We're just ready to get in there and see if we can make it to the championship, something a black college hasn't done since the first year (when FAMU won the title in 1978). We want to make history.'' Jackson can make history of his own Saturday. He needs just 8 yards to become the sixth B-CU player to rush for 1,000 or more yards in a season (quarterback Pa'tell Troutman did it twice). Both teams have prolific offenses led by dual-threat quarterbacks. Freshman Quentin Williams is 7-0 as a starter for the Wildcats. He has passed for 948 yards and 10 touchdowns with just two interceptions and has rushed for 449 yards with three TDs. Coastal Carolina senior Aramis Hillary has 2,133 yards passing with 17 TDs and five interceptions and has added 484 yards on the ground with four touchdowns. “Coastal Carolina is a well-coached team, and I'm sure (it) will be prepared for this game,'' Jenkins said. “(The Chanticleers) play at a high level and are very talented. It's going to be a tough and exciting game.''